Exclusive: Putin Sets War Red Line, Says Arms Down Only If Kiev Withdraws From Claimed Lands

1 day ago

In a world exclusive interview with India Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlines his strict conditions for ending the war in Ukraine. Speaking to Foreign Affairs Editor Geeta Mohan, Putin asserts that Russia will only lay down arms if Kiev’s troops withdraw from territories claimed by Russia. He defends the invasion as a response to Western betrayal over the Minsk agreements, stating, ‘Western leaders openly admitted later that they never intended to honor those agreements.’ Putin also revisits history, calling Kiev the ‘mother of all Russian cities’ to justify cultural ties. The President dismisses NATO expansion as a threat to Russia’s security and criticizes Ukrainian President Zelensky’s leadership.

Transcript

00:00This interview, this conversation is becoming very interesting, sir, because there are so many

00:03highlights of understanding it. It's really pleasant to see you and your sense of humor

00:07and how you're putting things forth. But now we'll go on to a very serious matter,

00:12and that is the Russia-Ukraine war. So what, in your view, would constitute a victory for Russia

00:21in the Russia-Ukraine war? What are the red lines? Because you have, and I quote you,

00:26you have said very clearly that Russia will lay down arms only if Kyiv's troops withdraw from

00:33territory claimed by Russia. Which parts would that be?

00:39You know, it's not about victory, like you have said. The point is that Russia is determined,

00:47and will certainly do so, to protect its interests, protect its people living there,

00:53protect our traditional values, Russian language, and so on. Protection, by the way,

00:59of religion that has been cultivated on these lands for centuries. Yet you know that the Russian

01:05Orthodox Church in Ukraine is almost banned. They seize churches, drive people out of temples,

01:12temples, and so on. It is a problem. And I'm not even mentioning the ban on the Russian language,

01:21and so on. It is all part of a big set of issues.

01:28Let me remind you, we were not the ones to start this war. The West egged Ukraine on and supported the

01:35events, orchestrating a coup d'etat. That was the point that triggered the events in Crimea,

01:46followed by developments in southeastern Ukraine, in Donbas.

01:50They don't even mention it. We've tried to resolve these issues peacefully for eight years,

02:02signed the Minsk agreements, hoping that they could be resolved through peaceful means.

02:08But Western leaders openly admitted later that they never intended to honor those agreements,

02:15signing them merely to allow Ukraine to arm itself and continue fighting against us.

02:21After eight years of relentless violence against our citizens of Donbas,

02:25something the West hasn't uttered a word about, we were forced to recognize these republics first,

02:31and secondly, provide support. Our special military operation isn't the start of a war,

02:41but rather an attempt to end one that the West ignited using Ukrainians' nationalists.

02:46That's what is really happening right now. That's the crux of the problem. We will finish it

02:58when we achieve the goals set at the beginning of the special military operation, when we free

03:03these territories. That's all.

03:05So what is that goal? What is the end game for Vladimir Putin in Ukraine?

03:16I have said that already. Listen, we didn't recognize these self-proclaimed republics for eight years.

03:25Eight years. They declared independence, while we were trying to establish relations between the rest

03:32of Ukraine and those republics. But when we realized this wasn't possible, that they were simply being

03:41destroyed, we had no choice but to recognize them. And not just their existence on part of the territory,

03:48but within administrative boundaries established during Soviet times, then later under independent

03:54Ukraine after its independence, still within those administrative borders.

03:59And right away we told Ukraine, the Ukrainian troops, people don't want to live with you anymore.

04:09They voted in a referendum for independence. Withdraw your troops from there and there won't be any

04:15military actions. No, they chose to fight instead. Now they have pretty much fought themselves into a

04:23corner. All this boils down to one thing. Either we take back these territories by force or eventually

04:30Ukrainian troops withdraw and stop killing people there. Just one last question, Geetha, before we

04:36move to the other one. Just one last question, sir. March 8, 2014, during the annexation of Crimea,

04:44you were addressing the Federation Council and you said, Kyiv is the mother of all Russian cities. What did you mean?

04:53Here I haven't made up anything. Historically, this is how it was said.

05:02Originally, the Russian state was formed from several centers. The first capital, according to history,

05:08was in Novgorod in the northwest. Later, the federal status moved to the city of Veliky Novgorod. And then it moved to Kyiv.

05:22This was ancient Rus. And since then, Kyiv has been known as the mother of all Russian cities.

05:29Later, historical events unfolded in such a way that the ancient Russian state split into two parts.

05:47One part began developing with Moscow as its center, while another part fell under other countries.

05:54For instance, the part with Kyiv, along with some other lands, these parts first formed a state with

06:02Lithuania, subsequently merged with Poland, forming the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Thus, this part of

06:09the ancient Russian state ended up in Poland. And by the 17th century, it sought to return back to Russia.

06:16Right. President, sir, the fact that, you know, you're mentioning the history, and it brings me to

06:27what I did when the conflict was underway. I had traveled to Donetsk. I traveled to Lhansk, Zaporizhia,

06:34Kherson. And most of the people who were there are Russian-speaking. They speak Russian language. They were very

06:40disappointed with Kyiv that it was banned in eastern Ukraine. But they were also a little shocked that

06:47how is Putin doing this to us? We are his people. A lot of women I spoke to were in shock. So what do

06:54you have to say to people in eastern Ukraine who actually have families in Russia, who on a daily

07:01basis move from Ukraine to Russia? So what do you have to say to them?

07:06The answer is quite straightforward. These individuals presumably resided in those parts

07:11of Ukraine, specifically in the areas of the Lugansk and Donetsk region, that remained under the

07:16control of the Kyiv authorities at the time. Meanwhile, that part of the Lugansk or Donetsk

07:21region outside their control was being subjected to intense military action by the Kyiv authorities.

07:27We were consequently forced to extend support to those areas that had declared independence. That is the

07:33first point. Secondly, we provided people with an opportunity to express their will in an open

07:38referendum. Those who believed it was in their interest to join Russia voted accordingly. Those

07:44who did not were free to leave unhindered for other parts of the Ukrainian state. We have never placed any

07:51obstacles in the way of that choice. So what do you make of President Zelenskyy? He was promised NATO,

08:01the European Union promised an EU, nothing really happened. Was NATO ever on the table for Ukraine?

08:09When this gentleman came to power, he declared that he would pursue peace at all costs, using every means

08:16possible, without sparing even his career. But now we see things differently. He follows the same pattern

08:25as his predecessors, putting the interests of a narrow nationalist group, particularly radical

08:31nationalists, ahead of those of the people. Essentially, he is addressing their concerns rather than those of

08:38the nation. This regime's mindset truly resembles a neo-nazi regime, because extreme nationalism and

08:50neo-nazism are almost indistinguishable concepts. Today, undeniably, military action dominates their approach.

09:02However, they haven't achieved much success here either.

09:05I have already said before that what matters most for them is realizing that the best way to resolve

09:12the problems is through peaceful negotiations. And we attempted to negotiate with them back in 2022.

09:25What exactly they plan to do remains to be asked from them directly.

09:29That will be interesting to see what they have to say on that and how this peace process goes forward.

09:40But, sir, you've always said that the eastward expansion of NATO is your real concern.

09:46Now, Ukraine hasn't got this NATO membership as of now. My question to you, sir, is,

09:51is NATO expansion the real threat or just a pretext for what you think is a part of Ukraine which is

10:04probably you want control over? Or you think that injustice is being done, Russian language is being

10:10banned? These were the real issues.

10:12Listen, NATO is another matter altogether. The Russian language, Russian culture, religion,

10:25and even territorial issues. These are very important topics. One subject. NATO is something entirely

10:33different. We don't demand anything exclusive for ourselves here. First of all, there are general

10:43agreements that the security of one state cannot be guaranteed by undermining the security of others.

10:53This idea might seem somewhat obscure, but I'll explain it simply.

10:58Each country, including Ukraine, has the right to choose its own means of defense and ensure its own

11:06safety, correct? Absolutely correct. Do we deny Ukraine this? No. But it's not acceptable if done

11:15at Russia's expense. Ukraine believes it would benefit from joining NATO. And we say, that threatens

11:23our security, let's find a way to secure yours without threatening us. Secondly, we're not asking for

11:34anything unusual or unexpected, nothing falling from the sky. We're just insisting on fulfilling the

11:41promises already made to us. These weren't invented yesterday. They were pledged to Russia

11:53Russia back in the 90s. No expansion eastward. This was stated publicly. Since then, several waves of

12:01expansion took place, culminating with Ukraine being drawn into NATO.

12:11This completely displeases us and poses a serious threat. Let's remember that NATO is a military-political

12:18alliance and Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, establishing NATO, hasn't been repealed.

12:27It's a threat to us. Nobody bothers to take us seriously. Lastly, when Ukraine became independent, few

12:35people recall this. What was the first document ratifying independence? It was the Declaration of State

12:42Sovereignty, independence of Ukraine. That forms the foundation of Ukrainian sovereignty and modern

12:52statehood. And it clearly states that Ukraine is a neutral state.

12:57Well, was that also, was that also the basis for what happened when you decided to annex Crimea? You're

13:10only warm water port, a very important strategic port for Russia. And then Russia was no longer part of G8.

13:18Today, the West claims or says that your actions in the recent past is the reason for, and I quote-unquote,

13:27the isolation of Russia.

13:33We didn't need to seize that important port in Crimea because it was ours already.

13:37Our navy had been stationed there under the agreement with Ukraine, which is a fact.

13:54After the collapse of the Soviet Union, our fleet remained there regardless. The matter isn't about

14:00that. Though it's significant, but that's not what we're talking about here. And we did not annex Crimea,

14:11I want to emphasize this point. We simply came to help people who didn't want their lives or fate

14:18tied to those who staged a coup in Ukraine. They said, hey, nationalist extremists took over in Kyiv.

14:27Did anyone ask us? Okay, we ended up as part of independent Ukraine after the dissolution of the USSR.

14:35So be it. History happened like that. Fine. Okay. Now we'll live it that way. But we believe that we

14:42exist in the democratic state. And if coups happen here with unknown consequences, then we won't accept

14:49that. We don't want to live like that.

14:50There was a threat, not just of pressure, but of outright violence against the Crimeans. Russia

15:01stepped in to help them. How could we do otherwise? If someone believes differently, thinking that Russia

15:09Russia would act differently, they're deeply mistaken. We'll always defend our interests and our people.

Exclusive: Putin Sets War Red Line, Says Arms Down Only If Kiev Withdraws From Claimed Lands

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